The Nashotah House Theological Seminary, located in the city of Delafield between Upper Nashotah Lake and Mission Road, was founded in 1842. The school’s establishment was inspired and directed by Bishop Jackson Kemper, the first Missionary Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Working with Kemper were James Lloyd Breck and William Adams, both recent graduates of the General Theological Seminary in New York City, who organized the school and oversaw its development. The institution was established to carry the Gospel to those settling in southeast Wisconsin, as well as to train priests for service in the developing west. In that later capacity, Nashotah House is significant as the oldest institution of higher learning in the State of Wisconsin.

The school’s earliest buildings are the Blue House (1842) and Red Chapel (1843), both in the Greek Revival style. Thereafter the primary buildings on campus were constructed in the Gothic Revival architectural style. The Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin (1859) was designed by James Douglas, a prominent, mid-nineteenth century Milwaukee architect. It was individually listed in the National Register in 1972. Lewis and Sabine halls were constructed in 1892. They were virtually destroyed in the fire of 1910 only to be subsequently reconstructed according to plans designed by prominent Milwaukee architect Alexander Eschweiler. The Eschweiler firms’ connection with Nashotah House continued for over fifty-five years. Its final commissions on campus included Kemper Hall (1956) and Breck Hall (1957). The Frances Donaldson Library (1910) was designed by John Suttcliff, a prolific, Chicago area ecclesiastical architect who had only one other known Wisconsin commission – St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in the City of Ashland (1904).

Nashotah House is significant for its role in serving settlers and later residents of the region, as well as for its role as the state’s first institution of higher education. It is also architecturally significant for its collection of Gothic Revival style buildings.

We gratefully acknowledge the Fuldner Heritage Fund which paid for the preparation of this nomination. This endowed fund, created through a generous donation by the Jeffris Family Foundation and administered by the Wisconsin Historical Society, supports the nomination of historically and architecturally significant rural and small town properties.

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